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Kids Keep Parents in the Dark About Cyberbullying

Jim Liebelt

Jim Liebelt's Blog

2008Oct 06

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Online
bullying could be more pervasive than you think. Three out of four
teens were bullied online over the last year, according to a study
released recently by psychologists at the University of California at
Los Angeles. And while that number may seem high at the outset, only 1
in 10 of those kids told their parents or another adult about it, the
study showed.

The anonymous Web-based study surveyed 1,454 kids
between the ages of 12 and 17. Of those, 41 percent reported between
one and three cyberbullying incidents during the year; 13 percent
reported four to six incidents; and 19 percent reported seven or more.
In other words, no longer are victims of bullying relegated to the
geeks and nerds of yore when it comes to the Internet.

The psychologists published the results of their research in the September issue of the Journal of School Health.

Many
teens neglected to tell their parents about the incidents because they
believed they "need to learn to deal with it," according to the
research. Others kept it to themselves because they feared that their
parents would cut back on their Internet access.

Online
bullying has emerged as another here-to-stay aspect of our wired world.
Have your kids been the victims of cyberbullying? Have they
cyberbullied others? It seems that since only 1 in 10 kids who have
been cyberbullied tell their parents, it would be a good idea for
parents to bring up the issue for discussion with their kids. For more
information about cyberbullying and how to handle it, click on the
following HomeWord article titles: